Five quick thoughts: What’s happened to Tony Parker?

During the regular season, Tony Parker was about as consistent a shooter from point guard as any player in the NBA.

Parker shot 51.9 percent from the field and led all NBA point guards in field-goal percentage. He was the Spurs’ most consistent player for most of the season, finishing with the team’s highest scoring average at 17.5 points per game.

But that earlier success is nothing but a fleeting memory after three games of the Spurs’ opening-round playoff series against Memphis. Parker struggled again through a miserable game in the Spurs’ 91-88 loss to the Grizzlies Saturday night.

Parker finished by hitting 5-for-14 from the field with six turnovers, misfiring on seven of his first eight shots.

Some might say that Parker’s exposure has occurred because Manu Ginobili is playing at much less than 100 percent and an aging Tim Duncan is nowhere near the player he was earlier in his Hall of Fame career. The Spurs have counted on Parker, and he hasn’t been able to provide much in the first three games.

Parker is shooting 34.1 percent and committed 10 turnovers in the first three games. The Spurs were expected to have an advantage at point guard, but fourth-year Memphis point guard Mike Conley is outplaying Parker in his first playoff series.

It’s a disturbing trend that has to turn around quickly if the Spurs have any hope of avoiding one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history.

Here are four other quick thoughts after the first home playoff victory in Grizzlies’ playoff history.

1. It’s been interesting to listen to the post-game analysts on NBA-TV make such a big deal about Zach Randolph dominating Duncan and the Spurs so far. That has been the case for most of both Memphis’ victories. But the Spurs came up with strong defense against Randolph for most of the critical fourth quarter Saturday night. Randolph ended up the fourth quarter settling for outside jumpers of 16, 28 and 22 feet on three of the Grizzlies’ final four possesions. He hit only 1-for-8 from the field in the fourth quarter. Of course, the one he hit was the 3-pointer with xx:xx left that will go down as the biggest victory in franchise history.

2. The injury in the fourth quarter sustained by Antonio McDyess could potentially have some serious ramifications for the Spurs. McDyess has been the most effective of the San Antonio defenders against Randolph and Marc Gasol. If he can’t play, it will alter the rotation and really limit San Antonio’s interior defense. But it might make those angry posters on the message boards and the chat rooms happy in at least one sense. Tiago Splitter might be forced to get his first playing time of the series if McDyess can’t play.

3. There’s been a lot of questions about why the Spurs didn’t take a time out on their final possesion and their scrambled offensive work on that play. But I’m curious why Ginobili was hemmed up inside the 3-point line in the first place. The Spurs could have set up a better play in that situation if they had collected their thoughts. Manu’s creativity has been one of the team’s biggest strengths throughout his career. But it left his team hanging out to dry at the end of Saturday’s loss.

4. It’s hard to believe that Lionel Hollins and his Grizzlies have never been in the playoffs and the Spurs have more playoff experience than any other franchise in the NBA. Through the first three games of the series, the Spurs have not been able to grasp momentum in any of the games for an extended period. That’s been the biggest shock of the first three games. The Grizzlies have played loose and looked like the team with more confidence in the series so far. And it’s why they have claimed two of the first three games of the series.